‘If she comes, will she be allowed to enter? They have put us in this huge jail. They won’t even let us go out.’

‘They won’t keep us here forever. We are kept here because the situation is bad.’

‘If there is a war, it is always bad, isn’t it, ache? All the sipahi dadas become angry. Ananta dada and the others become angry too. Was Pulok dada angry as well? Was that the reason he sent you away with us?’

‘Pulok dada didn’t send me away.’

‘Then why hasn’t he come to take you? It’s been such a long time since we were made to leave our homes!’

‘Everything will be alright. Come, let us go and fetch some water.’

‘I can’t come, ache. Yunlin ache has asked me to look after her baby for a while.’

At that time C Hoi was requesting the armed guard to open the gate of Wing 5.

‘Let me go out. I need to go to the office.’

‘It’s lunchtime. Go have your lunch,’ the guard said irritably. This man had been coming to the gate every now and then demanding to be let out. He had almost lost his mind.

But he wasn’t the only one. Others had begun to lose their patience too. Some wept all the time. Some sat brooding and didn’t want to talk or eat. They would attempt to cajole the guard to open the gate.

So far, no one had been permitted to go out. They were allowed to go out only if they needed to go to the hospital for medical attention. The doctor came by daily to see them and dispense medicines. There were some old people in the hospital with severe opium withdrawal symptoms and there were others who were unwell. The hospital was one only in name; a place of consolation for the sick, with the bare minimum facilities.

‘Let me go, please. Do you know how big a house I have built? How much gold! How much money! I was allowed to bring nothing. We were sent here like beggars.’

C Hoi’s wife was trying to pull her husband back. She looked irritated and frustrated. Seeing Mei Lin approach, her face brightened. Mei Lin went near the gate and said gently, ‘Ako.’

‘I have left the entire house open. Nothing was permitted to be taken. Everything will be stolen. I want to go to the office to let them know. But they don’t listen. You tell them.’

‘Okay I will tell them. But it is time for lunch. Now the office is closed. Let’s go now, ako. We will come again after lunch.’